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Day 5 – Resolution Scene
1. Please watch this scene and provide your insights into what makes this scene great from a writing perspective.
2. Read the other writers comments and make notes of how you will improve your opening scene.
3. Rethink your Resolution scene using your new insights and rewrite the scene.
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6 Replies
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William Whelan – Resolution Scene 1
What I learned rewriting my scene is to construct a resolution scene that gives a surprising but inevitable ending.
· Scene Arc: Morgan Freeman opens sealed box. Kevin spacey taunts Brad Pitt about his wife and that he has killed her. Morgan freeman’s action confirm to brad Pitt That Kevin spacey has killed his wife. Brad Pitt kills Kevin Spacey.
· Situation: Prisoner Kevon Spacey leads detectives to a sealed box in a fileld which they must open.
· Conflict: Whether Brad Pitt will kill Kevin spacey.
· Entertainment value: Tense, gripping final scene.
· Setup/Payoff: Kevin spacey has killed Brad Pitt’s wife. Brad Pitt kills Kevin Spacey.
· Conclusion: Killer/prisoner is executed.
· New status quo: Punishment without trial by summary execution of prisoner.
· Satisfying ending: Biblical ending – “Eye for an eye”.
· Delivering character: All character actions in the final scene are consistent with their character in the prior scenes.
· Interesting dialogue: “If you kill him, he will win.”
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The ending of Se7en is perhaps one of the greatest examples in film history of a very surprising, yet obvious and inevitable solution. The whole film is about the 7 cardinal sins and it was a minor puzzlement when the villain, John Doe, turns himself in at the end of Act 2… because what will happen to the rest of the film? Where are the remaining 2 crimes? Something is missing… and from here on there is a huge tension, we sense something very bad is coming but we don’t know from where… it makes the long drive to the final scene almost unbearably tense.
And then there’s the box, perhaps the most famous box in cinema with the most shocking content, which is never actually shown once yet everyone is sick just thinking about it. A brilliant ending. Detective Mills’ life is shattered and he has to deliver justice, despite Somerset telling him that John Doe will win – he can’t calm down and shoots the man who did it. John Doe becomes the envy and Mills the anger. What an unexpected and yet satisfying twist… Moreover, the viewer is drawn in emotionally to the utmost, and even finds himself torn with Mills – to shoot him or not? It would be so nice to get revenge, but everyone knows that Mills will get himself in big trouble if he pulls the trigger… so we are both reassured when he finally fires and saddened at the same time.
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AMERICAN BEAUTY –
While I had difficulty with this movie and its theme, I can see the incredible writing prowess. The Resolution scene… Spacey is lying in a pool of blood, in his transition from life to death, remembering the beautiful moments of his life. His fear, anger, depression, everything has gone. Layer this with the gun shot, individually heard by the others.
The set/up is before the scene… he has changed his affection for his daughter’s friend from paramour or father figure. He sees his neighbor, who he tries to comfort, the neighbor thinks he’s having an affair with his son… he’s distraught, on many levels… for his son going “the wrong direction” and then his own secret attraction to men. PAY/OFF He shoots Spacey then runs to get cleaned up.
The ending is satisfying because Spacey’s character was repulsive throughout the movie but tries to redeem himself in the end… and lets go of his emotions and “relaxes.” Delivering character… every character was so well done.
Dialogue… the last line… saying we might not understand what he’s talking about, but, someday we will. We’re all going to die. Whether we have that experience of having our lives flash before us or it’s an immediate “lights out” remains to be seen. It appeared that Spacey went to Heaven… an interesting possibility for this character.
One further point, it’s been so long since I’ve seen the movie… in the end he appears to see the empty trash bag blowing in the wind… from the film the neighbor’s kid made… I don’t remember if he actually saw that while he was alive, or that was shown to us as a metaphor for an empty life blowing in the wind.
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What I learned writing my resolution scene is the importance of adding tension to create a scene that gives a surprising, yet inevitable ending. The suspense and psychological manipulation make this scene memorable. The acting by Brad Pitt (Detective Mills) and Morgan Freeman (Detective Somerset) play on our fears by combining horror and crime.
Conflict arises as Mills realizes that Kevin Spacey (the prisoner) has indeed killed his wife and her head was in the box that Somerset had just opened moments before. Will Mills kill the prisoner? Somerset tells Mills to give him the gun or “he will win.” It is an agonizing decision, and we can’t blame Mills for finally shooting him after what this sick psychotic killer did to his wife.
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- Even without having seen the entire movie, this was an intense scene to watch. John’s character is contrasted with Det. Will’s–one intensely restrained, the other loose and reactionary. John clarifies his motives, his actions, his capital sin, his relationship with Will in short summary: a viewer who may not have caught on earlier in the film gets a classic reveal at the end. Yet the delivery is emotional though John shows no emotion in the telling–another aspect of his character and his philosophy. Will can’t/doesn’t want to listen. It takes Freeman’s character to interpret and referee the clash; he does so professionally.
John’s death seemingly brings the violence to an end, though his dialogue says that the situation will live in the minds of others for a very long time. His death is merely a physical conclusion; Will has become the killer now.
While John’s death is a satisfying ending to the detective mystery, it is unnerving in it’s effect on those who stalked him and the consequences they will endure. The question remains: should John Doe have been shot? The viewer must decide.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 4 months ago by Mary Dietz.
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Resolution Scene from Se7en:
What makes this scene great from a writing perspective:
I can’t remember the film exactly, but I think we start with a twist – Somerset and Mills think they have the upper hand and finally have John Doe in custody. But this is quickly turned on its head when Somerset discovers the head. He says, “John Doe has the upper hand.”
It’s filled with suspense as the rest of the scene unfolds: what’s in the box? Why is Somerset scared? How does John Doe have the upper hand? What does this have to do with Mills? What will Mills do?
Finally, we understand the motivation behind John Doe – and how Mills has been his pawn. John Doe completes his “picture” by becoming “Envy”, and Mills becomes “Vengeance/Wrath.”
In the vein of true horror, Mills survives, but his life is destroyed. He will never be the same again.
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